Fire-Ravaged Frager’s Hardware to Re-Open Part of Business

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WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Frager’s Hardware store began its comeback Sunday from the devastating fire that wiped out the landmark D.C. business last week.

The iconic Capitol Hill store announced Sunday afternoon that it will re-open the lawn and garden portion of its business at a nearby location at Eastern Market.

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray the plan will allow Frager’s Hardware to sell plants and nursery supplies from a temporary location at 7th Street SE. The store’s former location was a few blocks away at 11th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue SE.

The hardware store’s new space is a concrete pad that formerly served as the foundation for the temporary location of Eastern Market.

Frager’s general manager Nick Kaplanis said they’re still working out the short-term plan to keep Frager’s going, but they’ve had no shortage of offers to help.

“We’ve been here a long time. We’ve been here for the community and now the community is going to be here for us,” Kaplanis said.

He said offers for semi-permanent spaces have come pouring in, but first they have to make the Eastern Market space work.

“As we go along we’ll figure out what else we can put over there,” Kaplanis said. “We’re going to get together (Monday) and figure out what else we can do as far as through the course of the week.”

On Sunday, fork lifts and moving vans carried pots and plants — about the only stuff that survived the Wednesday evening blaze — from a loading area next to the charred Frager’s buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue to its temporary stall a few blocks away.

Three Frager’s buildings were decimated in the four-alarm fire that began about 6 p.m. Wednesday and took more than 200 firefighters roughly three hours to get under control. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the flames.

Smoke from the massive blaze could be seen drifting over the Capitol dome and Nationals Park.